Turkey Hunt

It's getting close to the Big Day, Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday of the year!  A day of delicious food, family, and gratitudes galore, steeped in traditions that without might make the day seem less than whole.

Sometimes it can be difficult to keep the little ones entertained with all the cooking and football and napping that is happening around the house.  When my kiddos were small we spent some time making pinecone turkeys.  You know, with the construction paper feathers tucked in between the scale-esque seed wings?

We went on a walk to gather up a few pinecones for the project, and I was surprised at how small some of them were.  Easter egg sized, really.  *Ding!!* And that's when the idea for the annual turkey hunt was born.  We collected even more pinecones and made quite a gaggle of gobblers.  (Technically, a group of turkeys is called a "rafter" but my fondness for alliteration sometimes trumps *ahem* truths.)

As is the case with the springtime egg hunt, the turkey hunt will start off with the birds being hidden by the grownups, but the game usually continues as the kids then take turns hiding them for each other!  Ah, a little respite for the chefs and sports fans as the little ones entertain themselves for a while!

By the end of the long weekend, we would pack the turkeys up till the following year, keeping our rafter in the rafters.  

A fun tradition, indeed!  So, will you be making some turkeys for your own hunt this year?

30 Days in Your (Art) Journal

I am two weeks into a 30 day online class from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer about the daily practice of art journaling.  I have been fascinated with this concept for about a year now, and in January started an art journal at the encouragement of Julie's Art Journal Every Day online community.

The things that make Julie's concept of art journaling so doable are a) there are no mistakes and b) spend just 10 minutes a day.  I started out really strong, enjoying the daily ritual, experimenting with paint and sketches, writing in a bit of the day's happenings.

While I've kept at it, adding to my art journal here and there, I admit that my practice changed as time went on.  I wanted to spend more and more time on each session, time I just didn't have.  So instead of limiting myself to the 10 minutes, I'd just skip day after day, waiting for an opportunity to play around without a time constraint.

A couple months ago I had a mind to change the focus of the journal, and use it as a life book/catch all.  I started adding To-do lists and grocery lists to blank pages, just trying to get back into the habit of cracking it open on a daily basis.   Not. Very. Inspiring.

When Julie announced that she would do an online art journaling class, I thought that would be just the thing I needed--having someone hold my hand and inspire me to get back to the basic premise of "just 10 minutes a day".  Boy, was I right!

Julie's video lessons are always so straight forward, and getting to see her talk through her process with the choices she makes is really helpful.  She really makes you feel that there are no wrong choices, no bad decisions.  And, she is sticking to that 10 minutes!  She sets a timer at the beginning of each lesson, and off we go.  After the video she types up a bullet list of take home points, and she always lists supplies she used and substitution possibilities so that you really tap into your creativity and don't feel like you need to go out and buy a bunch of stuff.  

Here is what I've accomplished in the past couple of weeks:

I am thoroughly enjoying myself!  I can't get over the culminating results of what only 10 minutes a day can become!  If you would like to join in or check it out, click here or on the "30 Days" icon on the right column of this blog.  

Thanks for visiting and letting me share with you!

The Eyes of Lost

This past summer we found that the TV series LOST was available for streaming through Netflix and made an almost nightly ritual of watching it as a family.  The kids, 14 year old J-Girl and 12 year old J-Boy, were so into it, and it was really cool to watch a "real" show with them.  My babies are growin' up!

And I am ruined for watching live TV.  I can't deal with all the commercials, so love my DVR and Netflix, and can't fight the indulgence of watching multiple episodes at a time, or at least not having to wait a suspenseful week for the next installment.

Watching this way, there may be some artistic subtleties that would go unnoticed if having to wait seven days for the next episode.  In LOST, you might be surprised how many opening scenes begin with a close up shot of someone's eye.  We would laugh every time!  It became a family inside joke to the point that we were screwing around with the cell phone camera and taking pictures of each others eyes one day.  At that point, I knew a scrapbook page was in order.


When the creative lovelies over at Punky Scraps put together a challenge including of all things, a picture of your eye, I knew I had found my muse!  While only 2 items needed to be included to fulfill the challenge, I think I got all but one on this page.

Here's the list of elements they challenged to be included in the layout:


     Hessian/Mesh (I had to look that one up: hessian=burlap)
     A tag
     Steampunk imagery
     Your own handwriting
     Black mist
     A picture of your eye(s); what do they say/mean to you?
     Lace of any kind
     Doodling
     Metal

And here is my resulting layout:

Bazzill Cardstock; My Mind's Eye and DCWV papers; StazOn and Distress Inks; Stampin' Up and unknown stamps; found mesh, burlap, and transparent box; Elco 19g wire; Craft Essentials paint; Sharpie, Uniball, and Stampin' Up pens

Ok, so the fun began when I printed out the pictures of our eyes.  J-Girl had just opened a new package of sewing machine needles and I found the plastic packaging under the dining room table and toyed with the idea of doodling a TV set to go over one of the eyes to play up the visual of what the essence of this story is.

I didn't have any black mist, so I diluted some black acrylic paint in a little mister bottle.  The result is kind of gray, and if you have seen the show, perhaps you will recognize my ode to the Smoke Monster.

I was multi-tasking as we combed through thrift stores and costume shops last month.  I was hunting for one of  those  lapel pins with wings that commercial pilots used to give kids when they'd fly for the first time (back when a budding aviator could tour the cockpit!).  No luck, but while surfing the net last week, I came across an awesome alternative idea and instructions for making DIY paperclips over at The Sweetest Occasion.  I had found the perfect way to incorporate metal into my project, get an airplane on it, and give a nod to that fateful flight number:

I will definitely have to work with making more paperclips!  It was very empowering to wrangle that metal into the shape I wanted it to be.  In that respect, I have always admired metal working artists; to take a medium that is seemingly impervious to change and heat it and pound it into submission at the mercy of the artist's imagination--incredible!

Thank you for visiting!

The Raven

You know what they say about the best laid plans...well, I ran into a snag early on in my Halloween themed scrapbook venture.  Somewhere in the mix of transitioning from film to digital cameras, a boy's diagnosis of autism, a crashed hard drive, and a particularly splashy dolphin named Cindy (the only sea mammal I've ever held a grudge against--at least for this long) I found that I was MISSING three precious years of Halloween photos.

I was in denial for a long time.  How could they really be missing?  And, was I really in such a stupor when my son was diagnosed with autism on October 26, 2006 that I took no pictures of a proud Mario and his loving sister, Sailor Mars, on Halloween five days later??  {OMG!  Today is the fifth anniversary of his diagnosis!}

After a year of maniacal and fruitless searching, I came to terms with the loss and devised a plan.  I would mix in Halloween themed pages and lore between the years' pages so the big chronological gap would not be so noticeable.  I have kept this book as a close companion to keep me inspired, though I haven't created much from it's contents yet.

In it there is an excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's famous 1845 poem, The Raven.  "Once upon a midnight dreary".....I created an homage to this famous work:

Cardstock:  Bazzill Basics; Paper:  Cloud 9; Ink:  StazOn, Inkadinkadoo; Stamps: Stampin' Up; Paint:  Plaid; Pen:  Sakura Pigma Micron, Marvy Calligraphy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bird himself was so flat looking, straight from my printer (and Google Images--thank you Naama!).  I used some glossy paint to add some detail to the wing, feet, beak, and eye.

I didn't have black glossy paint, but this midnight blue was worth a gamble, and I am quite pleased with the results!

The windows, while looking as if they required a steady hand, were simply tapped on with an old credit card dipped in brown paint.  I used a silver ink pad and my finger to add frost to the window pains and some misty fog crossing in front of the painted moon.

Oh, and good news!  My neighbor (yes, you, Pearl-my lone follower!) found a picture from one of the missing years!  2005:  the Pretty Witch and the Fireman!  Hooray!  

Thank you for visiting!

The Beginning

It being October, which is sort of a scrapbooking quantum for me, I thought I would share with you how I started this hobby.

Innocently enough, I was invited to a friend's Creative Memories party, kind of a Tupperware of Scrapbooking event.  An excuse to hang out with some ladies involving food, drink, and crafts?  "Sure, I'll come--but don't expect me to buy anything.  I have no interest in scrapbooking.  Fine, I'll bring a few pictures to play with."

It was September of 2008.  The kids were already 9 and 11 years old, but I brought some of their baby pictures and made these little 7x7 pages.

 

Not bad for a first timer, eh?

It was pretty fun, too.  But, no, I still didn't want to scrap my life.  How daunting the task of catching up on all the years and milestones that had already passed??  With October right around the corner, however, it occurred to me that  I could do just a Halloween album.  It wouldn't be too hard to catch up, and then I was only committing to one page a year about a very fun, creative holiday.  Perfect! 

And so I made this title page:

I was very proud of my sketching inside the diecut letters to make them stand out a little. 
And look at those bat eyes!  I used bling!  Lol!

As my introduction to "the craft" had been in a 7x7 inch format, and envisioning my finished Halloween album sitting on our small coffee table for a good month of the year, I decided to go with the 8x8 inch size rather than the seemingly enormous 12x12.  (That would come later, though currently I am considering joining the 81/2 x 11 movement.)  And here are the first two pages, commemorating Jillian's first Halloween!

Yes, we really stuck her inside a pumpkin! 
And put another pumpkin's top on her head!

A little pumpkin to dot the "i"?  I was unstoppable!

It was a sad, sad day when she could no longer fit in that Winnie the Pooh outfit!  

Luckily, we had another kid!  Even if Jeremy, the Gentle Giant, wasn't able to squeeze into it very many times, it made it a little easier to retire the Winnie the Pooh on the second go around.

Oct. 1999

Well, thank you for stopping by and letting me share these little bits of the past with you!

Inside Out

When I proposed the idea to myself to start an art-related blog, it occurred to me that I should include some sort of creation to go along with the introductory post.  Well, the scrapbook page I came up with started out with the intention of "showing" myself, addressing the exposure and vulnerability of opening myself up to critique and comment. 

As I played around with paint, inks, papers and other do-dads in my ever-growing stash of supplies, my confidence bloomed and I developed a different take on my title, "Inside Out." 

Supplies:  Paper by Stamin' Up, DCWV, K&Company, Anna Griffin (thanks Michelle!), Starbucks; Cocoa Daisy tissue; Plaid paint; Adirondack Color Wash; Studio 18 Rhinestones; Button-vintage; DMC embroidery floss

I hand painted the title, then decided to play with the words by recessing "inside" and popping out the word "out".  The corrugated cardboard behind is from a Starbucks coffee cup sleeve. 

I knew I'd find the right place for these two losing raffle tickets that have been floating around my purse for the last couple (5?) months!

These flowers and the one above were made from some tissue paper included as packaging with a kit I ordered from Cocoa Daisy (none of which is actually used on this layout!).  I love the coordinated array of items they pull together from so many different lines and companies.  I am not one to stick to "a collection" and love that they are thoughtful down to the detail of matching the tissue wrapping to the items purchased.

  

And the journaling.  I'll come out right now and tell you that I am a HUGE fan of journaling, and a VERY nosy person who will squint relentlessly to read the journaling on other people's scrapbook layouts and art journal entries!  You've been warned!  But also know that I will make it a point to give you a close up shot of what I've written or will retype it out so you can read it.  It's the least I could do.

 

So, there you have it!  My first share!  Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for visiting!

A Safe Place

I don't know why I was starting to feel uncomfortable in my own skin.  My own "blog skin," that is.  Is there such a thing?  Blog skin?  There is probably a better term, but let me explain where I am coming from, and then maybe we can come up with the right terminology together.

Anyway, I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the direction my blogging was going on Unique Like Everyone Else.  I have been entertaining more crafty hobbies and outlets these days, and blogging about house, home, and family less.  When I do feel the urge to blog, I often want to share some of my finished projects, and the more I share those types of posts, the more I feel rather indulgent, like, "Hey!  Look at me!  I made this!  The kids?  Oh, they're fine.  Wanna see what else I made?"   So, instead I find myself keeping a lot of things private as I've chosen to document them with scrapbooking or art journaling, and who wants to see that?

Well,  maybe some people do!

I go to a lot of other crafty blogs, and  they are filled with post after post of creative yumminess.  I realized that I wanted a place like that, too.  A place where I could post as much artsy stuff as I wanted, and I wouldn't feel like I was boring anyone because they had, in fact, come to my new blog, My Peace of Paper, to see my art, not weed through it to get to the other stuff.   Don't worry, sweet grandparents and doting aunts and uncles:  I will still be chronicling the Flaherty family funnies, triumphs and tribulations over at ULEE (Unique Like Everybody Else) and will probably have some cross-links from here to there and vice versa.

Wow!  I feel much better now!  Thank you for coming to my Safe Place.  However, don't feel like you can't leave criticism in the comments.  That's not the safety I am seeking.  It's more the "Oh, boy.  There she goes with the art stuff again,"  insecurity I have over on the main blog.  That is what My Peace of Paper is here for--the art stuff.  That's where I find a lot of my peace, in being creative.

Thank you for visiting!
(I'll post about the layout this picture was cropped from tomorrow!  See ya' then!)